Five year old frozen goose

[msmatcha]

DH discovered a freezer in the garage today. We apparently filled it with food in the first lockdown. Bagels, beef mince, chicken, and for some reason we also decided to freeze a gigantic goose. I have no recollection of this but there it is. What on earth do we do with it? Will it be revolting? DH marched proudly into the kitchen with it today but I made him march right back to the garage with it so we can make a plan. I'm not even convinced it will fit in the oven. We could maybe cook it outside in the smoker?

Nooo! It will stink. Frozen meat is only good for maybe three months. Throw it away before it starts defrosting or you'll regret it!

I'd eat it

What time do you want me round?

Update for anyone still interested. I was out this morning, came back and put car in garage. Had a little look around and couldn't see the mystery freezer. It's a big garage but still.... Asked DH the location of freezer and he said it's in the corner, it's black. Black!!! I did see that but thought it was a sort of cabinet. Black freezer!

It lasts longer than that in this house. Admittedly I've never frozen a huge goose.

This gets madder and madder.

OP is there a massive a relevant bit of context you’re missing out here, like “we have staff, so they bought and filled the freezer at our request” or “I have amnesia” or “we only live at this house part of the year”?

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g admittedly our freezer was so shite we actually got a new one yesterday!
But six months max, not five years! I'd be terrified, lol.

5-year-old frozen goose is likely still safe to eat, as frozen food can technically be kept indefinitely if stored properly at a consistently low temperature, but most experts would recommend throwing it away due to potential freezer burn, quality degradation, and the uncertainty of proper storage conditions over such a long period.

Growing up with a hunter we often had game that 3as over the recommended 6 months. It was rare it tasted bad.

Don’t roast it. Get a giant pot and boil it for about eight hours with a pair of old boots (laces removed). Don’t cover: you’ll have to top the water up now and again.

After it’s all been well boiled, take the goose and boots out.

Throw the goose away and eat the boots.

Am a bit staggered by the "don't eat meat that has been frozen for more than 3 months brigade". Patrolling your inventory must be a significant domestic task. Do you have a spread sheet? Mind boggling.

My Mum is 92. She insists on defrosting her fridge freezer twice a year (it doesn't need it, but there's no arguing with her). As the contents come out she checks against her handwritten list that they were all on there and then copies that entry onto a new list. As items are used up in between the defrosts, they are crossed off and new items are added. Where necessary, items like tubs of stew or soup are carefully labelled. It's all very disciplined.

Nothing approaching that happens here. Consequently we often have Freezer Surprise. Very rarely disappointing!

I also have an inventory for my freezer similar to your mother's system and cross off and add stuff as it happens! I do a quick thaw of the upper two fast freezer shelves fairly regularly as they ice up a bit and usually do a quick check on the inventory then. Mind you it's not a chest one, all drawers so much easier to keep check on.

Worse things happened in lockdown. Some people turned to alcohol and domestic abuse ramped up too. If all you've got to show for the madness is a new freezer and a dubious goose, I'd say you got off lightly! I'm still decluttering the houseful of crap I bought over those years 😅

I've never heard of freezer burn, what is it? I've been eating it haven't I

My new goal in life is to have a house big enough to forget some of its major appliances.

friend had to cancel Christmas one year…possibly covid, and froze a Turkey crown. She cooked it the next Christmas. It was fine,

Freezer burn is just something that happens to poorly stored frozen food. It affects the look of it, possibly to some extent the taste, but doesn't as far as I know indicate that it's unsafe.

But what is it? How do you know if food has it? I don't understand how something that can be frozen and is in the freezer can simultaneously be incorrectly stored.

If you opened a packet of chicken breasts, say, used two and shoved the packet into the freezer without properly resealing it, e.g. by wrapping it right round in clingfilm or decanting the remaining meat into a suitable container or bag, that's when I believe it might be an issue.

If it hasn’t been properly wrapped/ incorrect container etc. I think it’s when the food dehydrates because the very cold air of the freezer has been able to get to it. You can tell because it looks odd. It wont taste good when you eat it.

Its just when the item isnt wrapped up to protect it from the frost properly. It gets 'burn' on it, you can see it, the texture looks different.

It's when moisture evaporates from the food due to it not having an air tight wrapping. It effects taste and texture but it's still safe to eat.

OP - I'd get rid of it. Goose is absolutely delicious when properly cooked, like duck but better. I'm guessing it will be challenging to do a good job with it after 5 years frozen.

But you might not want to take advice from me as our freezer contains only ice for cocktails and dog food because I don't love food that's been frozen, so try to avoid as much as possible.

Ive never found it affects taste to be fair, just the texture.

And the tins are packaged for supermarkets in quanities of about 24 on a cardboard slab and wrapped in plastic. I think that's what a slab is.

Hummus anyone?

I can understand all of this (even the goose as I got a frozen one cheap once) except I don't understand the forgetting a whole freezer/pile of stored food bit! The house must be like something they'll leave to the National Trust.

The chick peas yes

The bagels maybe

The goose definitely not.

Still staggered you forgot a freezer.

In all honesty I'd defrost it and if it smells ok I'd roast it. I've found frozen sausages in our freezer way past their date and they've been fine.

Nothing wrong with a 5 year old goose. I found food from 1981 in my mother's freezer last month. Even she hadn't forgotten the existence of the freezer though!